Earth anchor



Dec. 26, 1933. A. B. CHANCE 1,940,938

EARTH ANCHOR Filed June 23, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J2 Jaaerzi'fir I QZerZ E fiance qw/ 2km, M at 5.

Dec. 26, 1933. A B, C E 1,940,938

EARTH ANCHOR Filed June 23, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheut, 2

Patented Dec. 26, 1933 UNITED STATES T N OFFICE The present'invention relates to earth anchors, and is particularly concerned with anchors of the screw type, adapted to be driven into the ground by the rotation of the anchor.

The screw anchors of the prior art are generally provided with a centrally located body or hub, which must be of sufficient size and strength topro-vide an adequate support for the inclined screw flangeand to provide a connection between the anchor and a guy rod. ,The central body or hub of a screw anchor presents considerable resistance to the installation of the anchor, since the surrounding earth must be compressed sufficiently to make space for the hub, and the work of compressing and compacting the earth tomake room forthe anchors of the prior art is accomplished entirely by the rotation of the anchor by means of awrench. The labor of forcing such anchors into the ground, therefore, depends upon the characterof the soil, but is generally quite arduous. 7

One of the objects of the present invention is the provision of an improved method of installation of screw anchors, by means of which the resistance to the installation of such anchors is ,materially reduced, the labor is decreased, and thefanchors may be installed in harder or more diflicult soils.

Another object is the provision of an improved earth anchor assembly which maybe installed with lessphysical effort than the devices of the prior art, and which includes one form of apparatus for carrying out the improved method.

Another object is the provision of an improved screw anchor which can be installed more quickly than the devices of the prior art, and with lessprobability of breaking the anchor when installed under particularly difiicult conditions.

Another object is the provision of an improved guyrod which is also adapted to serve as a guide and wrench for the installation of a screw anchor. Another object is the provision of an improved method of installation of screw anchors including the formation of a preliminary pilot hole for receiving and guiding the hub of V the screw anchor duringthe screwing operation.

Another object is the provisionof an improved method ofinstallation of earth anchors which can be "carriedout, by several different forms of apparatus; Another object is the provision of an improved earth anchor of the screw type, the guy rod of which is adapted to be embedded'in the earth by merely driving down the rod when it"is desired I H I 15 is circular in cross sectionand the body 11 to abandonthe'anchor and rod.

D Other objects and advantages-of the invention 7 will be apparent from the following description and from the "accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to two sheets; Fig. 1' is an elevational view of an anchor installation constructed according tothe present invention, with the parts in the position which they assume when the anchor has been driven into the ground'for a short distance. v I

' Fig. 2 is a medial sectional view taken on a vertical plane through the anchor and eye of the the drawings, of which there are guy rod.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the anchor.

Fig. ,4, is a view similar to Fig. 1, of a modified form of anchor. 1

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 2, of the modified construction.

Fig. 6 is a'plan view of the modified anchor.

Referring to Figs. lto 3, the earth anchor which is indicated .in its entirety by the. numeral 10, preferably consists of an integral metal member formed by'a casting operation and having a central body portion or hub 11 which is adapted to provide a support for one or more screw flanges 12 which project laterally from the hub 11 and. extend spirally about the hub. The screw flanges 12 may take any of the conventional forms which are adapted to draw the anchor into the earth a to install the anchor, and which are also adapted to providean'increased bearing surface for'the anchorafter the anchor has been installed.

The body or hub 11 may be of any shape, butis preferably substantially cylindrical in form to decrease the resistance to the rotation of the anchor in the earth, and the hub 11 may beprovided with a tapered'lower portion 13 if the head 14 of guy rod 15 is of smaller sizethan the body 9 11 of the anchor.

In some embodiments of the invention, such 7 as that illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6, the head 18 of anchor 10 is provided with a circular bore 16 to slidably receive guy rod 15. The lower end of body 11 is also provided with a socket formation 19 for receiving head 14.

The upper end of guy rod 15 may be provided with threads 20 adapted to receivethe body 21 of an eye structure having a threaded bore 22 and an eye23 formed in the body. The eye 23 may consist of two upwardly projecting flanges 24, 25, joined by a yoke 26 having an inner surface 2'? of substantially the shape of a horseshoe and the eye 23 is provided with a curved groove 28 extending through the eye about the yoke 26 for receiving ,lar socket. When the anchor isprovided with a cruciform, socketjan adapter 30 is used 'havin'g a :l ower .cruciform'portion to be received in the socket 29 and an upper square portion 31 to be received in ai s quaretubular ishaft 32. The tubular .sh aft 32 1 is ,preferably of considerably less length than 'the' guy rod15, in ordertoprovide .ppgfikientclearance, sothat the guy rod may be {driven iii-preliminary to theinstallationof the Qanichorto forrna pilot hole, and the tubular shaft 132 may be provided with a wrench consisting of a body 33 having a transverse socket 1340f form complementary to the shaft 32 and having a pair .fof, m'itwardlyv projecting'handles 35. If desired,

. rr' gs. 1 to inthat thehub 11 of theanchor has been provided with a non-circular or square aperture 36 instead of the bore 16, and the guy .rod .17 v has I been V made? complementary in cross [section as for example, square in the anchor illustrated 'I'husthe anchorlo of this modified devi'ce is sli'dably fbut non-rotatably, .rnounted .uponthe guy rod 17, and the guy rod 17 may be use'das ashaft for engagement' with the l wre'ncn-body 33 in the.ins tallation' of the anc'hor; eliminating the tubular shaft 32 v of the previous embodiment. Thewrench may, be sim ilar in form but 'isfprovidedjwitha smaller socket or non-circular aperture 3'? adapted to slidably 7 width toward its upper edge lo to substantially ,the same size as the cylindrical hub 11 ,ofthe anchor.

be formed by upsetting the end of the guy rod,

but non-rotatably receive theriomcircularguy rod 1'7.

In this embodiment theguy rodl? hasbeen provided with a pointed head 38,hav ing a substantially frusto-conical point 39 increasing in The heads 14 or 38 may in either case or theguy rod may be provided with a threaded bore 41 and the head with a threaded axially located stud 42 to be received in the bore.41, to secure the head on the guy rod. The upper end of guy rod 17 may be substantially the same as that of guy. rod 15.

The improved method of installation is described as follows:

In order to decrease the resistance encountered in, the installation of the screw anchor,-I have V found that it is highly desirable tolform apilot "hole 43 as a preliminary step to the installation substantially the saine-direc'tionin which itis-desired to install the guy rod, and consequently the pilot hole should preferably be formed by holding the guy rod with its point resting on the ground and in line with the proposed direction of extension of the guy or cable. The guy rod may then be driven into the earth in such position to form a pilot hole and the pilot hcle 13 is preferably of sufficient size to receivethe hub 11 of the screw anchor. The present invention includes both the formation of pilot holes by the rod or other tool separate from the anchor or in conjunction with the anchor as illustrated by the present apparatus. 7

.In the practice of the method under some conditions, the guy rod might be withdrawn in Whole or in partf'asfor instance by leaving the head 18 embedded in the ground, after which the screw anchor 19 may be installed in the usual manner-by means of a shaft and wrench, and the body 11 will naturailyfollow thepilothole 4.3 to the desire d location. Thea inount jof re- .sistance to the installationof the an'chor v'vil1 "the passage of the screw anchor has beenisubstantially eliminated. 7

I Other modesyofthepractice of the foregoing'- iin'prcved method may becarried out'by 'l earls of the'apparatus disclosedin the fo scription, and the deviceillustratedin F gs. 1 to 3 may be installed as follows. The anchor having been assembledwitha'shaft and wrench, as shown in Fig. "1,;andfh 1din the same position previously described, the gu rod 1* maybe driven into the earthby of a sledge or other toolapplied to the eye structure 21, and during the driving op'er'at nthe guy rod 15 will slidethrough theanehol ing the pilot hole 43. ,The guy rod ispurpesely made longer than the tubular wrench shaft" 32, in order to permit the preliminary driving" of -the guy rod, during whichithe ipilot hole-is formed... 'Afterthis, the screw anchorlo mayfbe ro tated in the usual manner by means'of the shaft 32 and wrench-33, during which operation the screw anchor will progress along-the rod 15, sliding androtating' upon the guy 'rod -lfij'and also following the pilot hole 43.

Inthe embodiment of-Fig. 1,--it wi-llbe observed thatthe head 14 of the guy rod is slightly smaller than the hu b 11 of the-anchor,and'conseduently-the pilot hole 43 need not in e've'ry case be, fully as large as the hub of the anc or; In'any" case, however, the formation of the; preliminary pilot hole and/or the'preliminar'y location; of the guy rod in place to guidethe anchonfgreatly decreases the amount of labor necessary to install. the anchorand the anchormay be-installeddn a shorter time withless phy sical effort.

In the embodiment ;of Fig-. -4, the uyr'od#1'7 is driven in the samen' anner tofor'm 'the pilot'hole A3; after-which the guy rod -1'7, oint. 16. ;and anchor 10 may all be rotated-by meansiofl wrench 140 33 to screw the anchor- 10 intblplace. During this operation the anchor} 10 sl-idablyga butinonrotatably, engages guyrod- 1'7- andpro'gressesildown ion the guy rod -until it; strikes head 16, after. which the anchor may be driven still furtheraindthe usual manner, if desiredorl several driving}. and securing operations may-beused. T

7 It should also'be noted-that ina-either case,;af-ter the anchor hasbeen installed; the guy rod=may be abandoned and concealed.::by;isimplysdriving {I50 upon the eye structure 21 until the guy rod 15 or 17 is completely embedded in the earth. During this operation the guy rod will slide through the anchor and the anchor is, of course, also abandoned. It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved method of installation of earth anchors of the screw type, which may be practiced by several different forms of apparatus. The improved method, including the formation of the pilot hole, materially decreases the amount of resistance to the installation of the screw anchor and enables the installation of anchors in harder ground, where their installation would otherwise be impossible. The improved anchors may also be installed with less physical'efiort and in a shorter period of time, and the-present anchor may be very economically manufactured.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims. v

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In an earth anchor, the combination of an earth anchor, having a body portion with a screw flange carried thereby, a non-circular guy rod adapted to be received in a complementary portion for screwing said anchor into place, and said rod passing through said body, whereby said anchor slidably engages said rod as the anchor is rotated by said handle to cause said screw anchor screwed into the earth.

2. In an earth anchor, the combination of an earth anchor, having a body portion with a screw flange carried thereby, a guy rod adapted to be received in a complementary socket in said anchor for screwing said anchor into place, and said rod core. I

anchor: slidably engages said rod as the anchor is screwed intothe earth, and a head formed on said rod below said anchor to form a pilot hole for the body of said anchor.

3. In an earth anchor for guy wires, the combination of an anchor member of the screw type having a substantially cylindrical core with a helically extending flange carried by said core and adapted to provide an enlarged surface for anchoring guy wires and the like, said cylindrical core being provided With an axially extending non-circular aperture, a guy rod slidably mounted in said core aperture and having a cross section complimentary to the cross sectional shape of said aperture, said guy rod having a point'at its lower end and an eye at its upper end and a handle carried by said guy rod whereby said guy rod may be driven into the earth by impact on its end and rotated by said handle to cause said screw anchor to progress along said guy rod into the earth along a path predetermined by said guy rod.

4. In an earth anchor for guy wires, the combination of an anchor member of the screw type having a substantially cylindrical core with a helically extending flange carried by said core .and adapted to provide an enlarged surface for anchoring guy wires and the like, said cylindrical core being provided with an axially extending non-circular aperture, a guyrod slidably mounted in said core aperture and having a cross section complimentary to the cross sectional shape of said aperture, said guy rod having a point at its lower end and an eye at its upper end and a handle carried by said guy rod whereby said guy rod may be driven into the earth by impact on its end and to progress along said guy rod into the earth along a path predetermined by said guy rod, said guy rod point having a tapered body of sufiicient size to form an opening in the earth for receiving said ALBERT B. CHANCE. 

